#it's crazy how rarely those interviews are talked about in the fandom

[literalsunhobi]

i'm not joking when i say i could listen to namjoon talking about music for hours even tho i don't speak korean

[eternalflamegargoyle]

Incase anyone is wonder what's going on.

There are a lot of false rumors going around in the Drake Bell fandom, and it’s all because of some petty, jealous ex-fans. They’re spreading lies and making up stories to stir up drama. It’s almost like they want to be the next "crazy fan" like Mark David Chapman the man who killed john Lennon or Yolanda Saldivar, the woman who killed Selena. Essentially, they want to take control of the fandom, deciding who can be in which group and which fans are allowed to talk to Drake. There was a falling out because one fan liked Harry Potter. The group said liking HP was transphobic; the fan disagreed, and they kicked her out. They want to be the voice of Drake. When they didn’t get their way, they turned on him.

First of all, Drake’s fandom had no drama before this situation, and I really hope this will be the last of it. Besides the individuals who started it, most of the fandom is pretty chill.

The situation is: Drake’s fandom recently had a small, closed-off group form. Drake has a large LGBTQ+ following and has always been an ally. If you search his Out in Jersey interview, you’ll see he calls the LGBTQ+ community his family and mentioned raising money to help after an attack. In his interview with Josh Peck, Drake even talks about retweeting a photo of Justin Bieber wearing makeup as a joke 13 years ago. He openly admitted he regrets that and acknowledged society wasn’t as knowledgeable back then.

It’s important to remember:

Drake is a CSA survivor — he was assaulted by a man as a child.

He starred in a show (Drake & Josh) where episodes included jokes about crossdressing and kissing a trans woman — which sadly reflected how society treated those topics back then.

At 15-18 years old, Drake was trying to make people laugh, not hurt anyone.

He also made a joke about Caitlyn Jenner’s name change years ago, but deleted it, apologized, and has since grown and educated himself.

Today, he is a genuine ally, and many of his trans fans know and appreciate that.

Now, about the group: There was a falling out because one fan liked Harry Potter. The group said liking HP was transphobic; the fan disagreed, and they kicked her out. She later went to Drake’s concert and posted a photo with him, saying their opinions didn’t matter. The group got angry and wrongly claimed Drake “betrayed” them, even though he had no idea about the drama.

They then contacted Drake’s haters, who spread horrible misinformation and even wished death upon him. One person messaged Drake comparing him to the man who assaulted him. Drake replied, “You should absolutely be ashamed of yourself.”

Later, Drake popped into the group chat (he was a member but rarely visited) and asked, "Who is...why is she trippin'?" The haters twisted this and accused Drake of misgendering the fan — but Drake (and most of us) didn’t even know the person’s pronouns. It was an honest mistake.

They weaponized this to falsely accuse him of being transphobic. They also dug up old tweets he already apologized for , knowing full well he’s an ally, to push a fake narrative.

Also, back in July 2024, Drake had a chat where some racist comments were made. However, Drake did tell fans not to speak like that in the chat. Fans also were telling them not to speak like that.

Then came the Nora situation:

Nora is the daughter of a producer Drake worked with in Mexico.

In 2021, when Drake was married, Nora (then in 11th grade) met Drake briefly for photos.

Drake divorced in April 2023.

In 2024, a now 21-year-old Nora reached out to him.

They became friends, and briefly had a casual fling during a tough period for Drake (March-April 2024).

Later, he reconciled with his girlfriend and is still with her.

The haters twisted this, claiming Drake groomed Nora, which is completely false. Nora herself posted a TikTok clarifying she was never a victim and is being harassed.

Then came the Stevie Ryan lies:

There are also false claims being made about Stevie Ryan. I haven’t found any credible source stating she was raped by Drake ,only rumors from Reddit. They are also misrepresenting Stevie’s tweets. Some of her tweets could have been about her other exes, like Ryan or Eli Holzman.

They took Stevie's old tweets out of context, falsely claiming she was talking about Drake.

In reality, Stevie’s tweet about wanting to "burn down someone's house" was about Eli Holzman, an ex who mistreated her , not Drake.

Stevie dated Drake when they were young (she was 20, he was 18) and had no issues with him.

She publicly showed love and support for Drake even after they broke up.

Her tragic passing years later was due to struggles with mental health, abusive relationships (including her doctor), and depression not Drake.

Using her story against another CSA survivor like Drake is disgusting.

Now, they have infiltrated different platforms like Reddit, spreading misinformation and lies. They are using sources from accounts that post things like "Drake should kill himself" and "Up Periscope is a r*pe song," and completely delusional conspiracy theories about other celebrities.

They basically want him to harm himself. They are now moderating the Drake Bell subreddit and spreading misinformation about his past, using links from Twitter accounts that post hateful messages telling him to hurt himself. These same accounts also claim that "Up Periscope" is a song about assault and that Taylor Swift is a closeted lesbian sending secret messages through her music. It's turned into a complete delusional mess fueled by people with no empathy, just trying to tear him down.

[thedragonagebigbang]

Bang Creator Interview: Tumblr: @twist-shout-and-shells | AO3: Aint_No_Holy_Ghost

The Collaboration period has begun! In these quiet months before works are due, we want to foster a sense of excitement, camaraderie, and celebration among our participants. To that end, all participants were given the option of a formal interview by our mod, Dema, or an informal “ask-game” survey. We hope you enjoy getting to know our phenomenal creators as much as we have!

This is how local political unrest can help your love life!

Izzy and Dema talk writing (surprise!), trying and failing to catch a train, and Those Greek Guys

Dema: Starting current events (at the time of the interview): It's pitch writing time! How's it going?

Izzy: I've reached the part where the fun and games end and the heavier plot begins, so I'm moving more slowly. I totally lost control of the direction my story was going after chapter 3. But it's been a great time writing this story!

Dema: It is funny how our own stories can get away from us. I think I have my vibes pinned down and I almost always deviate. Does that tend to be your experience or are you usually a make-a-plan, stick-to-the-plan-type of writer?

Izzy: I try to be a no-plan writer. That's usually how my stories start: I get an idea and start in it with no real direction. But eventually I'm forced to develop some plan for where I'm going, and I try to stick to it. But I think the nature of stories is that sometimes they just write themselves and I'm simply their vessel.

Dema: I'm trying to remember which writer described it as trying to catch a train...

Izzy: That sounds familiar... But I can't remember either.

Dema: Wow, it's gunna drive me crazy. I'll put it in later… it was basically, you're on foot, and inspiration is like a train, and you're just grabbing onto whatever you can grab. Except I'm pretty sure a nobel prize-winning writer said it so it sounded much better.

[Narrator: Dema never did find the original source, and it really will drive her crazy. If you know it, tag her!]

When you say you eventually need to develop a plan, at what point do you realize you need to do that?

Izzy: Either when I run out of inspiration or when I have a clear idea of where I want to get, but no idea of how to get there. With my story for the DABB it was the former: after writing three chapters non-stop I hit a brick wall of "alright, and where am I going with this?"

Dema: I was going to ask about the DABB next! Did you have your preliminary idea before you decided to join in?

Izzy: Yes. It was an idea that had been kicking around in my head for a long while, but that I wasn't sure I should actually write because it's a) kind of a cliche and b) not a very popular pairing, but eventually I decided to just get it out there anyway. It started with a very particular line of dialogue and grew from there.

Dema: Oh, we love a rarepair in this house…And of course, I know what it is, and am excited.

Izzy: Lol! It was strange for me actually, becoming a rare pair writer. The first big bang I participated in was for Supernatural, a pairing with 100k fics on their tag. Now I'm writing for a pair with 100 fics, 4 of which are mine.

Dema: Incredible. You are holding down this fort. Also I love this little teaser. When did you start writing for DA?

Izzy: October 2022 (We're in 2024 already, jesus Christ)

Dema: Yes, unfortunately it is a daily shock for me as well. But I love how many people come into the fandom and create new fanworks even so long after the last game came out. What drew you in? Were you already hanging around the DA fandom before 2022?

Izzy: I started playing...at the end of 2021, I think. My brother introduced me to the franchise and my autistic little brain became obsessed with it. I was going to name my favorite game and protagonist, but considering they're the center of the fic, that'd be a spoiler. Anyway, I started following some DA blogs on Tumblr, and eventually thoughts of that game had consumed my every waking thought to the point I wrote two academic essays about it in my first year of uni. I wrote a significant portion of those 4 fics in the bus on the way to said uni. What drew me in most were the themes, really.

Dema: Any in particular?

Izzy: Found family and the tragic undertones of it all, mostly. I really like the way DA2 works as a tragedy in between two epics. The mage x templar conflict is also quite interesting. The tragedy x epic was totally the subject of one of those essays, btw. My professors suffer.

Dema: So I assume DA2 is your favorite of the franchise? Have you played all of them?

Izzy: Yes, it is! I've played all of them a couple of times, and DA2...several times. I don't know how many. 

Dema: I'm so curious if you played them in order or started with DA2. The "best order" to experience the DA universe is an interesting debate.

Izzy: No, I played them in order. Personally, I think it'd be strange to play them out of order, at least for the first time, because of the way the stories tie into each other. What I did do was play DA2 twice before I played Inquisition because on my first gameplay I didn't really check the writing desk (there wasn't anything like that in DAO and I was still new to games more complex than The Sims) and I missed Fenris entirely. Detail: he's one of my fave companions now

Dema: I'm pretty sure I missed Sera on my first DA:I playthrough. It's wild how much it impacts the story, if you miss a companion!

Izzy: Yes! I mean, it's a whole arc and a lot of banter you just don't get. Fenris has so much good banter!! I truly can't believe I missed him.

Dema: When it comes to the DA fandom, would you consider yourself a gamer first and a writer or reader second, or something else?

Izzy: That's a really difficult question. I'm not exactly a big gamer. Like, I'm not a completionist and I mostly play on casual because my real focus is the story being told. So I guess what I truly am is a "reader of the game" lol. Though I have been getting more into combat strategizing and stuff like that for DA2, because you can only play something on casual so many times before it loses the appeal. If you'll allow me an anecdote, to paint a picture of the kind of "gamer" I am: one time I was playing DAI in my brother's room (his computer), and he walks in, sees me with a vein popping on my forehead, stupidly focused, staring unflinchingly at the screen, and asks "what the f* are you doing?" I was in the undercroft tinting armors. 

And then, after that, I'm a writer.

Dema: This story is very relatable, lol. You've touched on the narrative structure of the franchise a bit and I'd love to hear more about that epic to tragedy to epic format, and why that resonated. Since you wrote a whole paper on it, just distill it into like four sentences, that shouldn't be hard right??? (I'm sorry)

Izzy: Oh, god. Ok. I'll try not to get too carried away :V

Dema: Please feel free. Here is a box to stand on, and a megaphone.

Izzy:  So. Uh. The Greeks, right? Those guys. Aristotle, more specifically. The Poetics and all that. I think DAO and DAI follow the formula of classic epics: you have this larger than life hero going on a very important quest to save the world. Notice that those games are longer than DA2, kind of like an odyssey, if you will. There are many quests, many steps to the journey before the hero can rest. It's glorious and grand, regardless of whether the hero survives or not. Now DA2 follows the formula of tragedies even closer than the other games follow the epic. And I mean step by step aristotelian formula. You have Hawke, who rises into fame and fortune. The rising movement is very important, because you later have the downfall. He gets fame and riches, but everything comes with a cost, usually the lives of his family. So in DA2 you have this constant rise and fall movement, leading up to the end where (if you defend the mages, at least) Hawke is forced to leave behind everything they spend 7+ years building. They lose everything. In the essay I compared it to Oedipus: he becomes king and etc, there's this looming prophecy (remember Flemmeth when you do the amulet ritual), and in the end everything falls apart. That's as summarized as I can get lol. And Hawke starts out as a nobody! And the game is actually divided in acts!!!

Dema: I read a LOT of classics/Homer in undergrad and I love this. Ten out of Ten. Thank you! I could honestly listen to you talk about that epic/tragedy structure for another hour but alas, we are out of time. To close the interview, and just for fun: Can you come up with a buzzfeed-style, misleading, click-bait title for your fic? Without giving anything major away that would identify you lol

Izzy: Ok, so, this is as vague as I managed: This is how local political unrest can help your love life (Also, I just realized I went out to get wifi and did the whole interview wearing a DA2 sweater. It was a complete accident, I swear)

Dema: AMAZING. Please show me the sweater!!

Izzy: The culprit:

Dema: I love it. Thank you for chatting with me, Izzy!